Last season, Arnaud Bodart thought of taking leave of Standard as the undisputed holder of Rouches for many years. Everyone’s interest was to cooperate in a transfer: the player was not against a change of scenery, the club needed liquidity.
During the summer transfer window, after a fairly calm period, several interests were mentioned: AS Roma wanted to have him as Mile Svilar’s understudy, Union Saint-Gilloise would have attempted an exchange with Anthony Moris, Strasbourg was interested, the Turkey was also mentioned. But none of this led to anything concrete.
Standard too greedy for a player in his last year of contract?
Its market value was then 6 million euros. His sale would also have relieved Standard of a high salary. Seeing him stay is bad news for everyone, especially for Matthieu Epolo, who spent the entire first part of the season with his shadow hovering over him, until losing his starting place under popular pressure.
In the meantime, Bodart’s situation has not changed (unlike his market value, which has fallen by half). After everything that happened, the Red Devil still wants to leave. Being the end of his contract soon, he quickly agreed to discuss with Metz.
Given the difficulties of the summer, it was agreed that the Standard does not put any obstacle to its transfer, but the 25% on the future capital gain demanded from Metz threw a chill on the negotiations, which they ultimately only slowed down.
-After having passed his medical examination, Arnaud Bodart is therefore in the process of joining Metz for free, with a six-month contract at stake.
An outcome that seems unimaginable: how was Standard forced to let go of a goalkeeper of the caliber of Arnaud Bodart (who, at his level, still joined the core of the Red Devils) without the slightest compensation transfer to French Ligue 2? Even after six months on the shelf, he remained one of the core players with the highest market value.
Management have only themselves to blame for the funds the club desperately needed as a lifeline. By showing itself to be too greedy, even in the final negotiations of the file, it found itself with a shortfall of several million.
